Jack Atlas
Jack Atlas is the Victor of the 72nd Hunger Games, which took approximately 3 years before the beginning of The Games RP. He is also the most recent District 8 Mentor recalled to the Training Center for the duration of the Never-Ending Quell. Unlike many of the Mentors and Victors in the Capitol, Jack is known to be publicly pro-Capitol and loyal to the current government of Panem. He is also known to be incredibly egotistical and heavy-handed in his training techniques. However, his loyalty in fact a combination more complicated factors. Among other things, the fear of poverty and punishment, the lavish gifts and patronage of his perpetual Sponsor, and the buying into his own propaganda and that of the Capitol's is what currently keeps Jack loyal to the concept of the Hunger Games, though even he has been forced to question himself due to events that have occurred. History Early Life Jack Atlas was born close to two decades ago in the slums of District 8. His mother died in childbirth, and his father died soon after in a massive factory fire. He has no other known (or at least publicly acknowledged) biological relatives or siblings; instead he was raised in an orphanage alongside others who lost their parents and families to factory accidents, a not entirely uncommon phenomenon in the garment district. Though Jack Atlas had a better upbringing than many in his orphanage, the orphanage, like all orphanages in the district, were state-funded and thus forced its charges to work in the house for the privilege to stay at the orphanages. Children of the appropriate ages were also made to take out tessurae for every child in their orphanage. Though Jack eventually went to work in the factory system, he eventually quit and joined a gang alongside several of his fellow orphans. Though the general atmosphere against gangs at the time were mostly ambivalent, since gangs generally only fought each other in sporadic street rumbles, the Peacekeepers instantly instituted harsh clampdowns and arrests when a friend in Jack's gang attempted to assassinate the District mayor. Though Jack managed to escape the clampdown, most of the members didn't, and many were tortured and imprisoned. All who were caught were put into the Reaping bowl for double the amount of tesserae that they had currently accumulated in the Reaping bowl, including the boy who was Reaped for the Games soon after the clampdown. However, Jack volunteered in that boy's place, as it was one of his closest friends and a fellow from his orphanage. Hunger Games Jack wasn't considered a favorite in the Games until his performance in the Cornucopia and subsequent battle with the jaguar, which revealed his unusual strength. After that, Sponsors gave him supplies and attention throughout the time of the Arena, which he used to varying degrees of success. In particular he caught the eye of the Director of District 8 Commodity Control, a relationship which would continue to develop even after his victory, with both positive and negative long-term effects on the young man. Jack managed to kill several Tributes throughout his time in the Games; his initial strategy was to lure his opponents to their death with the skin of the jaguar he killed. However, after he lost the skin (and simultaneously almost losing his arm) to a crocodile, Jack was forced into retreat against a Career alliance, led by the Arena favorite, Agrippa. In the end, Jack and Agrippa were the only survivors of the Gamemaker-generated, hurricane-induced landslide, and Jack won the subsequent fight by snapping Agrippa's neck. To this day, Jack retains a significant scar on his lower right forearm from his encounter with the crocodile. Pre-Games After Jack's victory in the Hunger Games, he did not return to live in the Victor's Village of his District, as was generally customary for Victors. Instead, he was almost immediately bid on by, and prostituted to, the Director. Unlike most Victors or Tributes bid on, Jack is almost exclusively 'owned' by the Director. In return, the Director allows Jack to stay in the Capitol and pays for the lavish lifestyle Jack has since become accustomed to. The Director has also sent supplies almost exclusively to the Tributes of District 8 since his acquisition of Jack. The Director's relationship with Jack was, and still is, a major cause of contention between Jack and many Mentors. Because of Jack's unquestioning acceptance of the Director's favors, as well as his subsequent taking on of the Director's pro-Capitol views in exchange for an upscale lifestyle, many Mentors were almost immediately alienated from Jack from the start. In particular, Calico was (and still is) very strongly opposed to the Director interfering with Jack or the other Tributes, especially given the rumor that Jack's father might have been the Director's own brother. Despite the negativity between him and the majority of Victors, he still managed to cultivate several relationships during his time in the Capitol. He is close to Calico and is constantly looking out for her, despite their differences and rocky relationship. He also has befriended Eridan Ampora, the Victor of the 73rd Hunger Games, due to their similar ages and beliefs. On the other hand, after the events of those Games, Jack has chosen not to cultivate close relationships with any Tributes that he has been assigned to train, including those that have come from other worlds for the recent compeition. The Games Though Jack had been living in the Capitol, the Gamemakers didn't call him to the Training Center until the end of Arena 06. He was brought back alongside Calico, who, according to Capitol media, had been wrestling with a drug problem in recent months; thus, Jack believed he needed to keep Calico clean as part of his duties and admitted as much to Katniss Everdeen. He was, and still is, unaware of Calico's sojourns in Peacekeeper custody. His initial declarations to the Tributes in his Districts endeared him to few people, if any. His attempts to rouse his Tributes ultimately failed, as most of District 8 resented his bombastic and abrasive personality, as well as his openly pro-Capitol leanings. He also made enemies outside of his District, most notably Tim Drake-Wayne and the Fraysong Initiate - the latter he successfully intrigued to deprive supplies to in the Arena, diverting them to other Tributes. He also got off on the wrong foot with the Alternian trolls in general, believing without question the Capitol Exclusive propo about the species being human cannibals; its implied in-game that cannibalism is in fact an incredibly touchy subject with him since the 73rd Hunger Games. Jack's difficulties became especially acute in regards to Calico as time went by. He had already engaged in several arguments with Chis fellow Mentor about his professed views, his egotism, and his questionable Sponsor. However, after the assassination attempt on Plutarch Heavensbee, things spiraled downward quickly between him and Calico, resulting in an explosive argument after the death of the majority of her family and other District 8 citizens, which she did not seem to care about. Though the Suere family had, in fact, been killed in a Peacemaker-orchestrated explosion and Calico had been arrested for her drunken rant against the Capitol, Jack was unaware of this and assumed Calico had been on a bender. Her seemingly blase reaction further angered him, and as a result, he refused to talk to her for the rest of Arena 07, Part 01. Trivia * Jack's favorite food is basabito. It is a jibarito with kielbasa as the meat; it was a comforting treat that he would at times get at the orphanage growing up and likely eats on a regular basis in the Capitol. Its a relative approximation to his favorite food in canon, cup ramen, in that its a relatively quick and inexpensive food to those of normal means, but a specialty to those who are particularly poor. ** Its also a reflection of possible District 8 food, due to its location in the American Midwest including Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland.These were all cities with prominent stockyard traditions (despite it not being the livestock district in current times), and many of its citizens had/have Eastern European roots, which produced many different sausage dishes and varieties. * According to http://akingalways.dreamwidth.org/341.html Jack's player, there are many parallels (deliberate or otherwise) between his canon and Panem lives. Category:District 8 Category:Past Victors